I poked around on Netflix and found a movie I remember that I watched less than a year ago called “Survivor” which was released back in 2015. I thought it would be a great Action/Thriller movie for the Movie Madness assignment. The Movie takes place mostly in London and stars mainstream actors like Milla Jovovich, Dylan McDermott, Robert Forster, and James D'Arcy. The movie is about a Security Service Agent (Milla Jovovich) who works for the U.S. Embassy in London and is trying to find more advanced ways to prevent potential terrorists. A terrorist (Roger Rees) from Afghanistan finds her a threat and plots to kill her by sneaking a bomb into a restaurant that she and her friends planned to go eat. Due to a last minute decision to buy a gift next door to the dine-in restaurant during the hangout, she escapes with little injury and flees. The terrorist’s right hand man (Pierce Brosnan) discovers that she escaped then attempts to assassinate her but fails. Later, the Service Agent on the run from assassins, accidently shoots a coworker in defense and is framed to look as the suspect. Running from the law and assassins, she looks up to a close friend she knows and a coworker to illegally help her undercover. But what she doesn’t know is, is that she can’t trust anybody and there is a traitor who’s close to her. Only her smart thinking and training can help her survive. She is on her own and has to stop the terrorist from succeeding his bomb plans in the U.S. Will she succeed? Or will the terrorists get what they want and go through with their plan? Maybe there’s more to this than you think. An innocent woman who is just trying to protect what is most dear and important to her – America, is a fugitive. An important role that she has made high-standing officials see her as a hero, is tarnished. The tools and friends she all had is now almost all gone and can trust no one, but still must serve her duty to prevent what the inevitable is about to happen. This to me is why I believe would be a great assignment for the class because this story has a lot to say in it and can create great discussion. This can create some interesting writing topics. Topics such as the pressures and rewards of being responsible for one of the most important positions in the world. Also the risks of what you would do even if great odds were stacked against you to do what you felt was right. Maybe look at a situation from a different perspective and try to understand why a bully or offender would do such acts that are considered bad against humanity? Things such as maybe intentionally bringing somebody down mentally or physical abuse in a relationship. Maybe criminals who do terroristic acts or cyber attacks. Look into the mind of a criminal. Maybe it is to serve a purpose they feel is right? Or maybe a topic about the importance of being a writer that can be a role in changing the world just like the importance of the woman’s position in the movie can be compared. Just a selection of these topics can be discussed.
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For my Academic Mindset Writing Process assignment, my conduction of the task was by myself but with some help from using my computer to research some of the material being focused on. I believe this was the best approach for me because the power of the internet that we have today is at such an effortless task to access, any questions or confusions I have can be answered from easy reach. My writing process had some difficult and easy parts, but the most difficult for me was having a more understanding on the two mindsets that I was wanting to describe so I could accurately argue my points with research behind them and make valid points. To argue and describe my mindset and reason behind it, research was needed to have a clearer mind of my argument. I also needed to reflect upon my past experiences, analyze my thoughts, and then predict the future with the same mindset based on my history of it. It was a challenge but with effort, I overcame the difficult task. I typed my draft on my PC at home about a week ago on Microsoft word and I feel like was a great approach versus just manually writing on paper. Typing for me is much faster and less fatiguing because when I write, especially a long essay, my arm and hands become exhausted. Any mistakes I make, I can easily delete and restart without a physical mess due to scribbles. My draft took about two days to produce. This I believe was a good approach because I took my time on the project, re-edited, and revised it to make sure it at least made sensible points.
I chose to write this topic because I believed it would reflect my writing process in the future and would be great practice for me to learn to become a better and more skilled writer. In the future, I plan to revise and adapt my writing process by having a new six-step process from this one:
The new six-step process I plan to follow is:
With the eye-opening discoveries made by Carol Dweck, I can describe my mental status thus helping me to better understand myself as a student at DCCC as well as in my personal life. She describes, kids with “’fixed mindsets’ stop trying when confronted with a challenge because they've convinced themselves that they're not good at math or writing or whatever the subject is.” Then she describes the second mindset as “’growth mindset’ – the belief that the brain is like a muscle that can grow stronger through hard work.” In her own website, she even explains what she has researched and her discoveries of these two mind sets. The one that best fits me is having a “growth mindset”. My growth mindset has guided me as a student to learn and has affected my abilities as a student.
I do believe my intelligence can grow to at least a certain extent with practice and effort. On that note, this has led me to overcome difficulties in my college work and carve the techniques needed to succeed in my academic progressions. Forwarding my attitude in a progressive manner, my knowledge of my ability in making breakthroughs in a colligative respect has proceeded over threats against my intellectual prosperity. For example, in my Spanish class, there is a lot to learn in such a short period with tests and quizzes almost every week. With a fixed mindset, my ability to defeat this speedbump would stagnate my motivation thus have me escape from the problem without endeavor. However, my acuity and willpower thrusts me to budget my time wisely and apply effort to the material needed to comprehend extensively. With time management and self-discipline, just about anything can be accomplish thus my growth-mindset has drawn me to accomplish what a person with a fixed-mindset wouldn’t do. Now the argument could be made that mindset isn’t really important but it is the way our education system is set up as Alfie Con argues in his article, “The perils of ‘Growth Mindset’ education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system”. He pretty much says that having a mindset “will get you only so far” and must go beyond mindsets then focus on structure and the reason for doing projects. The problems with this is that it’s a copout. It is devoid of any real substance and mainly based on subjective thoughts with barely any evidence to support his claims. His article is mostly comprised of insipid pap. The drivel he typed is mainly derived of unenlightened ramblings that continue to dribble on long enough to suffer from finger ache from scrolling down his endless, lengthy tirade. Besides this one particular author, anyone can argue that having a certain mindset is unimportant but the strategies used outside of mindsets is important. This can be true to a certain extent; however, a certain mindset needs to be established in order to better strategize the skills and techniques used in the academic atmosphere. In conclusion to all of this, we as a collective species can learn and grow mentally and the best way to learn this is from experience. If you don’t believe that having a growth-mindset wouldn’t help you in an academic environment, at least give it a try. Test out the hypothesis and experiment to see if you can find any evidence to this hypothesis. It may not work for everybody because I do feel that it CAN help. At least for most people who are struggling to get through school whether it is kindergarten or college. It has really helped to set forth the accomplishments I’ve made and can help you as well. Start by informing yourself about the different mindsets through research and even possibly buying or checking out Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”. Maybe watch some YouTube videos about it and listen to what other people have experienced with it. Then practice to overcome your challenges with effort. Through research and exercise of your brain by certain skills such as reading and judgement, you can see to it that your academic level grows and you become mentally stronger as a person. Going through college, especially is tough at times but if you apply a growth mindset, you can bust through it and celebrate your success. Carol Dweck’s discoveries have helped me to explain how I achieve my intellectual work and maybe her discoveries can explain yours and by that I wish good luck to you. In the book, “Teaching Adolescents To Become Learners” from the UCHICAGOCCSR, four academic mindsets are presented as: (1) belonging, (2) growth mindset, (3) self-efficacy, and (4) relevance/purpose. Out of one of these mindsets, I feel the best importance for my academic success at DCCC is growth mindset. This particular attitude in my educational environment has spectated to me of being the most affective mode of psyche.
Having a growth mindset is extremely important to me due to the history of my accomplishments with this productive mentality. Past experiences with overcoming scholastic chores in the school ecosystem have collided with my character of elastic stability. Many may think otherwise that mental growth would conflict with the social status quo. Being too soft on someone’s mind isn’t diving deep enough into the sea that is knowledge. There is a massive ocean out there waiting to be explored. Any other mentality set, alone, for me is not going to equip me with the needed tools to explore to the level of my satisfaction. Self-motivation provides me with great tools for me to reach far and beyond what is expected. I know that I can grow my intelligence by providing or being provided the tools of comprehension. The more I comprehend, the more knowledge I have to work with, therefore I get more supplied with practice and not only exercise, but anew my paths of mind exercising. The use of different varieties of techniques can improve my intelligence at least to some degree. In DCCC, my mindset can help me to achieve higher grades and more learning from the understanding that I can overcome the speedbumps in my academic setting. In conclusion, my mindset has, does, and always will be the most important tool of my life. It is very important to me to overcome difficult tasks and grow as a person, because life won’t always throw me the stick. Sometimes, I have to work for it. This can very well lead me to achieve higher standards and goals. Upon the inspection of the two articles, Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research , Carol Dweck Says (Carol Dweck) and The Perils of "Growth Mindset Education" [...] (Alfie Kohn), they both reflect the ideas of fixed mindset and growth mindsets from two different perspectives. It’s great to be exposed to different arguments because it helps to prevent a bias point of view. In the article “Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says”, the author explains that a Stanford University psychology professor named Carol Dweck discovered two different mentalities in students including “growth mindset” and “fixed mindset”. In the article, it is explained that the professor has studied and tested her theory of the two mindsets’ progressiveness and has concluded from her studies that students with a growth mindset have a better chance of success than students with a fixed mindset. It is later described that the educator’s discoveries have lead to widespread knowledge to many classrooms and has in fact changed status quo throughout the educational environment.
“The perils of ‘Growth Mindset’ education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system” is an article, unlike the first one, is presented in a first person perspective and argues against Dweck’s idea of “growth mindset”. Alfie Kohn, the author quarrels in resistance to the widespread “cultural meme” as he describes it, by injecting his belief that the “growth mindset” hypothesis is a failure based on a 2010 study linked in his post. He goes on to imply that the solution for students’ academic achievements is to fix the educational system by engaging in the consultation of the children’s work and inviting to search for more answers. More of his personal beliefs are implanted throughout his thesis then ends with his conclusion that a “mindset will get you only so far.”. In a fixed mindset, the person believes that their intelligence is a fixed trait as part of a genetic happenstance, therefore cannot be improved. In a growth-mindset, the person believes that their intelligence can be improved from effort. I myself have a growth mindset because I do believe that intelligence is based on environmental upbringings and influences. Intelligence can be changed at least somewhat from skill expansion techniques. Although Scientists are not completely sure if genetics are a factor in an individual’s cognitive levels based on my searches, that is not to say that it cannot be somehow changed at least insignificantly. When I first heard about the word, “hiraeth”, I immediately began to think it was a word out of a movie that takes place in like the Medieval times or something , but then I did more research on it. It turned out that the term was not an English word and is a Welsh word. IT’s meaning is complex as it can’t be directly translated into English. Instead, the closest way to describe what the term means is – to be homesick/nostalgic for a home you have lost or never existed. It is an interesting term to me which makes me want to know more about the Celtics who came up with the word. For my assignment, I am suppose to write about something in my life that relates to that word. Some possibilities I have are of many. One possible thing I could refer to is part of my childhood. Between the ages of around 5 to 7 or 8, I felt very happy with how my life was going. Friends to play with all the time. Plenty of fun things to do, almost no harsh punishments because my father taught me in a different and more patient way, satisfying moments of bliss. It wasn’t perfect of course, but was a time I wish I could go back to and I consider home. The time of no adult responsibilities, almost no stress, good grades in school, and so on. I was very happy with my life during this period. Another possible “hiraeth” moment I guess I could put as so, is my yearning of going back to the time of High School. If I were to have finished High School years ago and gone to college right after, I would have felt much at home and not regretted my decisions. Many possibilities, many things to discuss. Hiraeth seems like a well-thought of term to spell out someone’s life or nostalgia. Thanks to this assignment, I am digging deeper into the realms of the historical literature of an ancient culture.
My hiraeth. A term that can describe a yearning for a home that I can’t get back to. Or at least I have never had. The word as I’ve learned comes from Wales which is part of the UK. The word was used by the Welsh people. A clever word that has no direct definition in the English language. As quick-witted as the word is, it is a perfect expression to describe an anecdote I can reflect and visualize my hiraeth. Morning time. A time to get up, and breathe the crisp air of a tranquil dream that cascaded in my childhood life. I yawned and stretched as I prepared to wake from my bed. The sun was shining through my window blinders on my window and front of me. The sunlight beamed onto my tube TV and the stand in which a toy Pokémon ball sat on. The sunrays waved across my room with some glistening dust floating across the air in my room. I could see as I sat upright in my bed, the light cast upon my shiny toys that I enjoyed much so. Many game consoles and a Mac computer perched on a desk with a blue lamp that paralleled the color of my walls. As I jumped out of my bed, musings flashed across my noggin. Exhilarated to play with some of my friends in my neighborhood, my actions to dress up were of the past in a flash. I sped past the front door and scampered to my closest friend, Cody. He was appreciable and our time together could last an eternity. We played multiplayer videogames in a room, we explored our countryside neighborhood. Rode bikes, drove go karts, and all kinds of other fun activities. The instant I got to their front door, I rang the doorbell. His dad answered the door. I asked, “Is Cody home?” He replied with a “yes” nod and turned around to get him. I waited a couple minutes outside the door, leaning on a tree with a few wind pinwheels on the ground surrounding the tree. He came out and we headed out to our bikes while yelling at each other about what we planned to do. We separated, then he jumped on his bike in the car driveway and I jumped on mine in the car garage. We met each other on the road in front of his house, next to mine. We were next-door neighbors so it didn’t take much time to visit each other. We decided to see who could ride a bike the fastest. We both had a little analog speedometer on our bikes. We counted down, then pushed on the bike pedals. We coasted down the road and Into a winding curve that steeped downhill around an old tree faster and faster. The road made a circle down and back up around a huge tree, then back to Cody’s house. Cody won the race but still was very fun. We threw down our bikes after the race to go into his house and play videogames. We jolted through his front door, past his parents and ran upstairs into his room, then crashed on the floor and turned on the Nintendo 64. We both had a controller and played Vigilante 8. It was a game that had a car-warfare theme. We played for hours on the Nintendo and then played Halo on the original Xbox. Halo was a shooting game that had aliens in it. We had so much fun shooting aliens together and playing against each other. After hours of beating aliens and shooting rockets at cars, we departed for the day and enjoyed the rest of our day at home, eating dinner and enjoying the rest of the free time we had. At home while it was dawn, I had a great dinner my Dad made, then watched a Digimon movie from 1999. It was a really thrilling movie at my age. This wasn’t just a one-day thing. For a few years my childhood life was filled with moments like this. I had other friends I played with at the time. The yearning for those moments have crafted the perfect term that exists not in the English language. It exists in the language in which the Welsh cleverly weaved together. The word is Hiraeth. The youthful years I enjoyed, was a time I wish I could go back to, but can’t. It is a time I yearn for. My Hiraeth.
After reading two articles online, I was surprised to learn how much small distractions can lead to so much loss in work such as writing. In one short story called “How Can You Create Fiction When Reality Comes to Call?” by Carolyn Chute, the author presents us with how she has so many distractions in her day-to-day life that keep from her writing career. Distractions such as dogs barking, neighbors visiting, taking care of her pets, and negativity that is going in hers’ and other peoples’ lives stagnate her work. In an article called “6 Ways To Be A Hemingway-Level Productive Badass” by Drake Baer, the author states that Ernest Hemingway was very willful and showed it in his first statement, “To say that Ernest Hemingway is a writer's writer is an understatement…”. He then presents a list of six ways Hemingway “got it done” by making a list from one to six and a description for each number of things he did that helped him become a success in his work. Both writings mention distraction as a tool that yields a writer’s prosperity. Distraction is a dilemma that all of us face that halt whatever work we are trying to get done such as writing. I myself face many aberrations when trying to get college work done for example. I have many hobbies like many other people do and unfortunately get in the way of my effort such as watching videos on YouTube. Whenever I have for example, an essay that is due, I get to work on it but takes more time than would be reasonably needed. I do believe I can improve as a writer and can start by doing these 6 steps:
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